L'eclisse (The Eclipse) is the most
perfectly achieved and the most aesthetically daring of Antonioni's
black-and-white 'trilogy' of the early 60s. The last film in the trilogy (which also
includes L'avventura and La notte) L'eclisse
is distinguished for its subtlety and variety of mood, and for the
artistry of its images. A relationship breaks up, a new one forms and
dissolves in its turn. But, as so often with Antonioni, it is not so
much the action that counts as the events and non-events with which it
is interspersed.

The narrative centre of L'eclisse
is the love affair between the mercurial Vittoria (Monica Vitti) and
the restlessly extrovert Piero (Alain Delon). They are not natural soul
mates, they are not even matching opposites. So it is not surprising if
their affair appears to have no future. What is surprising, however, is
how much the film succeeds in conjuring up outside the narrative: the
mindless frenzy of the Stock Exchange with prices in free fall; the
utter peace of Vittoria's trip to a small provincial airport; the
passage of time while the camera waits at a rendezvous for which the
lovers never turn up... L'eclisse is worth seeing for these sequences alone."

DOORS OPEN AT 8:30 / FILM BEGINS AT 9 P.M. (sunset)

Screening
will be shown on the roof top of eighteen-thirty overlooking downtown
and echo park. Please make sure to bring blankets, sweaters, pillows,
etc to make yourself comfortable and warm. It can get pretty chilly at
night.